Japanese knotweed and economic loss in nuisance: framing environmental harm in tort

Wilde, M. (2019) Japanese knotweed and economic loss in nuisance: framing environmental harm in tort. Journal of Environmental Law, 31 (2). pp. 343-349. ISSN 0952-8873 doi: 10.1093/jel/eqz016

Abstract/Summary

In two recent cases, the courts have had to grapple with liability issues arising from the spread of Japanese Knotweed, a pernicious weed which is said to cause structural damage. One of those cases, Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Williams, was heard by the UK Court of Appeal where the arguments focused on the applicability of the tort of nuisance. The claimants were principally concerned about the property blight caused by the spread of the weed from a railway embankment onto their land. The litigation raises some important doctrinal points on the recoverability of economic loss in private nuisance. On a wider level, it also sheds light on how environmental harms can be framed as private financial losses which engage remedies in tort.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/83983
Identification Number/DOI	10.1093/jel/eqz016
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
Publisher	Oxford University Press
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